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Hundreds of people preview items for Saturday's Buckskin Joe auction

By Carie Canterbury

The Daily Record

Posted:
08/05/2016 08:51:03 PM MDT

Hundreds of people turned out Friday to preview memorabilia and merchandise that will be auctioned off beginning at 10 a.m. today at the former Buckskin Joe Frontier Town & Railway, 1193 CR 3A. (Carie Canterbury / Daily Record)

Click photo to enlarge

A few of the signs that are among the memorabilia and merchandise that will be auctioned off beginning at 10 a.m. today at the former Buckskin Joe Frontier Town &amp; Railway, 1193 CR 3A.

Between 400 and 500 people had stopped in at the former Buckskin Joe Frontier Town & Railway during the first two hours of a merchandise preview Friday.

Loretta Bailey, a Cañon City native and volunteer at the Royal Gorge Regional Museum & History Center, said browsing the memorabilia Friday brought back a lot of fond memories.

"We came up here as a family in the late '50s and early '60s," she said. "It was always a lot of fun."

Signs that read "Crystal Palace Saloon" reminded Bailey of her family members who worked in the saloon as can-can girls, a cook and a waitress.

"I never did work up here, but I came up here a lot," she said. "Seeing the old dentist chair and the old trunks just bring back memories."

The fond memories of Buckskin Joe also dearly are held by younger generations who visited the frontier town and rode the railway not too long ago.

Blake Repshire, 20, has been helping the last several weeks to organize the merchandise for today's sale. He visited the frontier town several years ago with his grandmother, who returned to Cañon City this week to attend the auction.

"I remember the gunfights for sure, the dentistry chairs, the train ride and the buggy ride," he said. "It's definitely going to be missed, but some new people are going to be happy."

Alan Woolsey of Woolsey Auction Company said people on Friday had mixed emotions while browsing the auction items.

"There was sadness, but there was also excitement of seeing these items they've never seen before," he said.

Two former gunfighters attended Friday's auction preview, but they declined to be interviewed; the sadness of the end of an era was too great. They said they planned to attend the auction and purchase some of the photos in which they are pictured, and possibly some other memorabilia from their days spent at the frontier town.

"A lady came here with a specific request to look for a cash box from the soda fountain building where her mother worked for 15 years," said Thomas Glor, the representative of Bill Koch, who purchased the property and its contents in 2010. "That box is very important to them, and when we found it, she started crying."

Glor said he also spoke to people Friday whose wives had made some of the costumes worn at Buckskin Joe.

"There are a lot of sentimental trips back through memory lane," he said. "A lot of people coming through were employees, too. This was a chance for them to come through and relive the memories of Buckskin Joe."

Glor said a lot of people have asked what happened to the structures that once populated the little frontier town of Buckskin Joe and lined its Main Street.

"Those buildings were dismantled, put on trailers and moved to the western town where they were reassembled, brought up to code standards, and now they hold museum pieces from Mr. Koch's collection," he said. "The Buckskin Joe buildings are alive and well, they are just in a different location."

Koch's private museum is not open to the public.

The auction will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at the former Buckskin Joe Frontier Town & Railway, 1193 CR 3A. Bidders may register beginning at 8 a.m., doors open at 7:30.

There will be three live auction rings running simultaneously, featuring items divided by large furniture, smaller items and outdoor equipment. Cash, checks, Mastercard and Visa will be accepted. Food and refreshments will be available for purchase throughout the day.

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